Congress Passes Legislative Package Including APA Model Parity Enforcement Bill

Congress yesterday passed the Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act (HR 7539), a bipartisan bill based on APA ’s model legislation for improving compliance with the federal mental health parity law.The bill was passed as part of a year-end funding package that combined annual appropriations legislation for federal agencies and a $900 billion COVID-relief package. The president is expected to sign the legislation later this week. HR 7539 gives the Department of Labor new powers to regulate and audit health plans to determine if they are in compliance with the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The new legislation was introduced by Reps. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.). It reflects language negotiated between the House and Senate related to the bipartisan Mental Health Parity Compliance Act. APA wrote the initial draft and worked with congressional champions to get it introduced and to build bipartisan support.“This is tremendously good news for the millions of Americans with mental health and substance use disorders,” said APA President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H., in apress statement. “Twelve years after mental health parity became the law of the land, the Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act will give the government important tools to stop health plans from discriminating against people with menta...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: APA Congress COVID relief Jeffrey Geller mental health parity Saul Levin Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act Source Type: research